Kinross keen on new investment opportunities in Russia - ministry
MOSCOW. April 20 (Interfax) - Kinross Gold is keen to explore new opportunities for investment in Russia, the Natural Resources Ministry quoted its head, Sergei Donskoi, as saying following a meeting with Paul Rollinson, the Canadian miner's CEO.
Kinross Gold not only mines gold in Russia, but also, as a member of the Foreign Investment Advisory Council, carries our research and submits proposals on investment and the development of exploration and the mining sector, Donskoi said.
He said that as part of the effort to make the mineral sector more attractive, the time allocated for geological studies in remote or poorly accessible locations had been increased from five to seven years.
Russia passed nine federal laws last year to remove administrative barriers and speed up the paperwork and necessary procedures, introducing licensing by application and a procedure to determine a specific amount for the mineral royalty, and is now working on a system to deduct exploration costs from the profit tax base.
Kinross develops the Kupol and Dvoinoye gold deposits, 100 km from each other in Russia's Chukotka region.
